The veteran does not meet the criteria for special monthly pension based on the need of regular aid and attendance or being housebound due to his disabilities.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows that the veteran is capable of dressing himself, keeping himself clean and presentable, feeding himself, attending to the needs of nature, and protecting himself from daily hazards. His combined disability rating for pension purposes is only 60 percent, which does not meet the criteria for special monthly pension.
- Claimed conditions
- Amputation of the right great toe, Diabetes mellitus, Peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities, Eye condition, Claudication of the bilateral lower extremities, Bilateral hand condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2009
- Citation
- 0900558
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 499 · Granted: 18% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0900558.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of ambulance travel expenses incurred on June 17, 2025 due to an emergency heart attack. The ambulance service was provided by a volunteer organization and later intercepted by a higher-tier EMT company.
- Granted
The Veteran's current peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities was incurred during his period of active service, including exposure to herbicides in the Republic of Vietnam. The Board granted service connection for this condition.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and thus denied his claim for service connection for cause of death.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not preclude him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment prior to September 28, 2021. From September 28, 2021 to May 22, 2022, the Veteran had a combined total disability rating of 100%, which rendered the issue moot as he was already receiving SMC based on his service-connected disabilities.
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